A senior from Wilmington, N.C., Barth was the only kicker in the country with a 1.000 field goal percentage in the NCAA rankings. He made all 10 attempts in 2006 and has a current streak of 11 in a row.
The Watch List is comprised of the top 30 preliminary candidates for the 16th Annual Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, presented by the FedEx Orange Bowl. The top three finalists will be honored during the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Banquet on Tuesday, December 4, 2007. The award will be presented Thursday, December 6, 2007 during the ESPN Home Depot College Football Award Show broadcast live from Orlando, Fla.
Five former winners or nominees, Mason Crosby, Martin Gramatica, Sebastian Janikowski, Nate Kaeding and Mike Nugent became successful NFL kickers.
Kickers on the Lou Groza Award Watch List were chosen based on statistics from the 2006 season and 2007 preseason expectations. However, all Division I-A kickers are eligible for consideration for the award.
A panel of over 300 experts vote on the award, including Division I-A head coaches, sports writers and sportscasters, conference representatives, professional kickers and all previous Groza Award finalists.
The 20 semi-finalists for the Lou Groza Award are announced on Tuesday, November 6, 2007 followed by the naming of the three finalists two weeks later on Tuesday, November 20, 2007.
The award, is named for National Football League (NFL) Hall of Fame kicker Lou "the Toe" Groza, who played 21 seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Groza won four NFL championships with Cleveland and was named NFL Player of the Year in 1954. Although an "All Pro" offensive lineman, Groza ushered in the notion that there should be a place on an NFL roster for a kicker.
1 Sergio Aguayo UNLV Senior
2 Connor Barth North Carolina Senior
3 Ben Bell Houston Junior
4 Arthur Carmody Louisville Senior
5 Gary Cismesia Florida State Senior
6 Treavor Cook Miami (Ohio)
7 Brandon Coutu Georgia Senior
8 Drew Edmiston UL Lafayette Junior
9 Garrett Hartley Oklahoma Senior
10 Jeremy Ito Rutgers Senior
11 Dan Kelly Hawaii Junior
12 Conor Lee Pittsburgh Junior
13 Taylor Mehlhaff Wisconsin Senior
14 Chris Nendick Northern Illinois Senior
15 Matt Reagan Memphis Sophomore
16 Jason Reda Illinois Senior
17 Jason Ricks Oklahoma State Junior
18 Louie Sakoda Utah Junior
19 Tom Schneider California Senior
20 Alexis Serna Oregon State Senior
21 Patrick Shadle Syracuse Junior
22 Jared Strubeck San Jose State Junior
23 Ryan Succop South Carolina Junior
24 Sam Swank Wake Forest Junior
25 Brett Swenson Michigan State Sophomore
26 Jarod Tracy Tulsa Junior
27 Alex Trlica Texas Tech Senior
28 Cole Wilson UL Monroe Senior
29 Jeff Wolfert Missouri Junior